Answer:
42 cm squared
Step-by-step explanation:
To find the shaded area, we need to find the total area and then subtract the areas of the 4 small rectangles.
The dimensions of the big rectangle are as follows:
- The length is simply the length of one of the small rectangles: 7
- The width is the length of one of the small rectangles <em>plus</em> the width of two of the smaller rectangles, so: 7 + 0.5 + 0.5 = 8
So, the area of the biggest rectangle is 7 * 8 = 56 cm squared.
Now, we need to find the areas of the 4 smaller rectangles. It's just length times width:
7 * 0.5 = 3.5
Multiply by 4 because there are 4 rectangles:
3.5 * 4 = 14 cm squared.
Finally, the shaded area is 56 - 14 = 42 cm squared.
Hope this helps!
